Unfortunately our culture makes us think that one person can be better than another simply because of the money they have, cars they drive, homes they own, positions they hold, marital status, parental status, etc. When we watch television we see shows about people who have so much money, nice homes and cars. We live in a world where we have a phone that is perfectly fine but we will go out and get a new phone simply because it is a NEW phone. We have to have the latest and the greatest. In our culture if you are not married by a certain age you are seen as less than or there's something wrong with you. Going to a wedding becomes such a pressure cooker for a single person, instead of a celebration of love, it is a place to make sure you have a significant other because if you don't you will be pitied. How about if you have children at a young age you are judged harshly, accused of wasting tax payer dollars because you must be on public assistance but don't have children by 35 and you are judged much more harshly, you can't possibly be happy or fulfilled. We live in a world that stresses perfection when perfection doesn't exists. So some of us feel the pressure of having to live up to this unrealistic standard. We go through life competing with each other. Somebody buys a house, we have to buy a house...even if we can't afford it. We see our friends getting married, we feel pressure to get married....even if it is not want we really want or if we are not in love. We go to college when we should be starting our own business, we take a job simply because it pays a lot of money when we don't like it and our gifts are not even being utilized. All of this to please who?
To live a life of happiness and peace, you have to know that you are not in competition with other people. You only need to be better than YOU: the you from yesterday, last year, 10 years ago. Think about it, we all start life on individual levels, with different resources, experiences and knowledge. There is no way for us to be on an even playing field to even compete. In a true race, everyone starts at the same starting line, that is what makes the race fair. The competitors run under the same conditions. Life is not like that. With the competition comes the pressure to win. In a true race you will not cheer on your competitor and encourage them to win. But guess what? We are NOT in competition with each other. There should be no pressure to WIN and we CAN cheer one another on and encourage each other in our success. There is no one avenue for success, no one definition of success and no one spot open to have success. We can all have it!
The truth is we do not have to live up to the standard set by people we don't even know. We can live a life of peace and happiness when are are able to be content with where we are at this very moment and feel good about it. If you are not happy with your life, let it be because of your own standards you set for yourself, not standards of others. We all have talents and gifts; we are all beautiful people who can have what we want in life. All we have to do is set goals, work towards those goals, no need to look to the left or the right at who might be gaining on us, only looking forward.
We can live our best life no matter how much money, the kind of car or other material possessions or our position in our careers. Love yourself, love what you do, bless others, and be yourself. Do the best with what you have. I guarantee you will be happier. You deserve it. Life is too short to live it any other way.
